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PROMOTING INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA. BY CHIEMEKE, S. C. UKAOHA, K. C. DEPART

ABSTRACT. It is becoming increasingly difficult for universities in Nigeria to go it alone in terms of serving as a citadel of learning, coping with the huge wage bill and competing with their peers in other parts of the world, due to competitive, economic and other pressures. As a consequence, universities in Nigeria are left with no option than to carry their industrial partners along in terms of research and development through the formation of partnerships for their mutual benefit. Since th32278

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PROMOTING INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA. BY CHIEMEKE, S. C. UKAOHA, K. C. DEPART

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    1. PROMOTING INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA. BY CHIEMEKE, S. C. & UKAOHA, K. C. DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA. e-mail: ukaohakc@computer.org Second Science with Africa CONFERENCE “Science, Innovation and Entrepreneurship” 23 – 25 June 2010 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    2. ABSTRACT It is becoming increasingly difficult for universities in Nigeria to go it alone in terms of serving as a citadel of learning, coping with the huge wage bill and competing with their peers in other parts of the world, due to competitive, economic and other pressures. As a consequence, universities in Nigeria are left with no option than to carry their industrial partners along in terms of research and development through the formation of partnerships for their mutual benefit. Since the industries are established for profit making and the universities for knowledge enhancement, such partnerships would help in spreading the costs in terms of provision of knowledge and costs of research. This paper discusses the various types of partnerships involving industries and universities, the benefits derived and a possible model for the working of such a partnership which could be adapted to other sectors and countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

    3. INTRODUCTION To create World-class leaders of the future; universities (Public and Private) in Nigeria and Africa need access to the following resources: Personnel (Faculty and Support) Infrastructure and Equipment Training and Professional Development Industry advisors and Other technology-based needs that are expensive to acquire

    4. INTRODUCTION contd.. In the current dispensation, universities are: Experiencing low-funding below UNESCO-approved minimum Budget constraints Late release of allocations from Government Increased staff overhead These reasons makes it imperative for universities to look beyond the Government for funding

    5. INTRODUCTION contd. The 4 main strands of activity that universities engage in where there is significant potential for developing partnerships with Corporate Nigeria (as the bigger industries are known in Nigeria ) are :- Teaching and Learning Research and Development Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Training and Retraining of students on Information Technology (IT) placements

    6. INTRODUCTION contd..

    7. ASSETS OF INDUSTRIES AND UNIVERSITIES Physical Assets/ Resources: laboratories, equipments and facilities Human Resources: highly skilled and experienced staff Other Knowledge Resources: information, database, libraries, processes, ideas, contacts, etc. Financial Resources: own research funds or access to public funds.

    8. TYPES OF INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS

    9. TYPES OF INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS contd. Graduate Fellowships/ Studentships: Sponsorships of studentship, fully/partial, offers industries a foothold into emerging IT areas Student Projects and Placements: Placement schemes like the Industrial Training scheme coordinated by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in Nigeria Sponsored and Honorary Posts & Secondments: Academic secondment to industries and honorary posts or secondments by Universities to specific industrial researchers

    10. TYPES OF INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS contd.. University Consultancy & Associated Commercial Services: Universities Academics devote part of their time to consultancy services for external customers Clubs and Networks: Clubs set up by a university or agency and Networks in form of research clubs Jobs: Securing jobs by IT graduates is also another area of partnership

    11. FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING A UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP

    13. FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING A UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP From our diagram, we showed that for a partnership to work effectively; it need inputs from: The Government (provision of conducive political environment; tax laws/ rebates; appropriate regulations to meet up with National IT policy and cooperation) Industries ( Interaction and exchanges with Universities; employment and training; Direct supervision/ implementation of IT projects, patents and funding and research) Universities (Interaction and exchanges with Industries; Patents and Inventions; training; consultancies; research and development)

    14. BENEFITS OF IT-RELATED PARTNERSHIPS Benefits for Industries Thinking longer term by gaining an inside track on emerging trends and enabling technologies developed in universities Benefiting from new ideas and past experience Going global by linking up the global academic networks Outsourcing through saving costs and letting universities handle research Access to IT skills within universities that company staff lack Accessing a range of IT disciplines at once in a university Bringing additional financial resources to bear on research and thereby spreading costs Reducing risk by sharing costs, finding out what others are doing Complementing the company’s physical resource base Recruitment made easy

    15. BENEFITS OF IT-RELATED PARTNERSHIPS Benefits for Universities Improving market awareness by gaining insights into the research problems or interests to industries Enriching teaching programs Maintaining research momentum in the IT sector Applying knowledge and skills to solving real business IT-related problems Learning new IT skills and techniques developed in the industry Learning new approaches to managing projects and how industry works Drawing on a wider range of private funding and access to public funds requiring industry collaboration Building on excellence and reputation Complementing the university’s resource base Sourcing job opportunities for IT graduates

    16. THE WAY FORWARD………….

    17. THE WAY FORWARD…………. Industrial partners in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa should organize forums where they showcase newer technological acquisitions to students and staffs of Universities to keep them abreast and influence their research direction. Government through her regulating agencies should from time to time encourage industry and University partners to develop their partnerships in line with her National IT policy

    18. COST IMPLICATIONS?

    19. CONCLUSION

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